When visibility is discussed, many people think first of social media.
This is a strategic mistake.
Social networks are relays.
The website, on the other hand, is the foundation.
In a serious independent author’s approach, a website is not optional. It is the keystone of any long-term strategy — not because it is fashionable, but because it involves decisions that shape the future.
I am not talking here about “making a website.”
I am talking about making a series of choices — and taking responsibility for their consequences.
It can be expressed simply:
the website is the author’s home.
Social networks are merely windows open to the outside.
Windows allow you to be seen, to attract attention, to signal your presence.
But without a solid house behind them, nothing truly holds.
The Website as a Foundational Decision, Not a Simple Tool
Before writing a single line of content, one question must be asked:
What does my digital presence rest upon?
Do you need to start from scratch?
No.
Today, there are proven content management systems designed to structure, organize, and publish efficiently. WordPress is one of them.
In my case, this choice was never a trend-driven decision.
It was a strategic one.
WordPress is not merely a publishing tool.
It is a mature ecosystem, supported by thousands of developers, widely used, and tested over time.
When thinking long-term, originality at the technical level is not the priority.
Sustainability is.
A Decisive Choice: Using a Default WordPress Theme
This is a decision often underestimated, yet fundamental.
Despite my background in computing, I deliberately chose a default WordPress theme rather than an external or “ready-made” theme.
This was not a compromise.
It was a stability choice.
Default themes are:
- maintained directly by WordPress;
- designed to comply with standards;
- tested first for compatibility with existing plugins.
When WordPress is used for what it truly is — an extensible platform — plugin compatibility becomes central.
Plugins are developed primarily to work with standard themes, not with overloaded themes carrying their own internal logic.
Simply put:
the more complex a theme is, the more it becomes a point of fragility.
Not Redeveloping What Already Exists
Another principle guided all my decisions:
not rebuilding what thousands of people have already tested, corrected, and improved.
WordPress offers thousands of plugins that:
- solve specific problems;
- add targeted functionality;
- prevent reinventing the wheel.
For an independent author, this is crucial.
Developing every feature yourself would be time-consuming, risky, and unnecessarily draining.
Being serious does not mean doing everything alone.
It means knowing where to stop.
The Website Name: A Decision with Long-Term Consequences
Here is a mistake many authors make — and one I made myself.
When I started, unaware of the real stakes, I sought advice from people outside the field. I was advised to name the site after the series rather than my author name.
At the time, it seemed logical.
In hindsight, it was a strategic error.
Why?
Because an author may write several series, explore multiple genres, and produce different works over time.
The constant factor is always the author.
Even today, some content and links still point to those older sites. Despite redirections, consequences remain:
- diluted recognition;
- fragmented presence;
- loss of direct historical continuity.
A domain name is a long-term decision.
It must carry the identity that spans all works.
The Website: The Only Space You Truly Own
Social networks are useful, but they do not belong to you.
Rules change.
Algorithms evolve.
Reach can collapse overnight.
An account can be restricted, blocked, or rendered invisible.
A website, by contrast, is a controlled territory:
- you control the content;
- you control the structure;
- you decide the rhythm and hierarchy of information.
This is what true independence looks like.
Centralizing to Avoid Fragmentation
Everything you produce — books, articles, reflections, announcements — should converge toward a single central point.
That is the role of the website:
- entry point for new readers;
- reference for reviewers and partners;
- living archive of your work;
- foundation for long-term search visibility.
Without this center, every action becomes isolated, fleeting, and difficult to build upon.
The Website and Long-Term Recognition
Search engines do not reward agitation.
They reward consistency.
By regularly publishing structured articles, useful content, and experience-based reflections, you send clear signals of credibility.
These signals correspond directly to the criteria used to assess a serious website:
- real expertise;
- progressive authority;
- content reliability;
- practical experience.
These qualities cannot be forced.
They emerge naturally from sustained, well-executed work.
The Website as a Credibility Anchor
At this stage, my author website is not primarily meant to centralize reviews or offer bonuses.
Its core function is to establish credibility.
Some readers want to understand the author before buying a book.
When they encounter coherent, thoughtful, and carefully crafted content, they immediately perceive the seriousness of the approach.
Over time, visitors return.
This steady traffic becomes a form of organic visibility, built on consistency and genuine interest.
Concretely, a well-designed website is useful from the very beginning.
For a new author, it becomes:
- an anchor point;
- a welcoming space for early curious readers;
- a clear place to announce a release, a translation, or a new project.
Even with low traffic at first, the website already fulfills its role:
it inspires confidence by showing that the author knows where they are going.
The Website as an Extension of Creative Practice
For me, the website is not just a visibility tool.
It is an extension of my work as an author.
My primary goal remains to entertain, to inspire, to tell stories.
The website extends that mission by becoming a space for sharing:
- to explore the worlds I create;
- to transmit experience;
- to offer the guidance I would have liked to find when I started.
In this sense, the website is both a showcase and a place of transmission.
Automating to Last
Automation is not an escape from work.
It is a condition for sustainability.
Publishing from a central website and then relaying intelligently across networks with controlled delays:
- expands reach;
- respects the reader’s rhythm;
- prevents author burnout.
The website becomes the source.
Social networks become satellites.
A Strategy Built Over Time
A website does not deliver spectacular results in a week.
And that is precisely why it works.
It is a long-term strategy: patient, coherent, cumulative.
It relies not on luck, but on consistency.
Conclusion
A serious independent author does not merely seek to publish a book.
They build an ecosystem.
The website is its foundation.
Over time, it becomes more than a tool:
a parallel work, a patient construction that grows alongside the books it supports. Everything else — networks, platforms, visibility — simply connects back to it.